Meet Marvel's new Daredevil: Who is Charlie Cox?

Charlie Cox is to play Matt Murdock in Marvel's new Daredevil series, coming exclusively to Netflix in 2015.

His casting makes the 31-year-old Englishman only the third actor to play the Man Without Fear in an officially-sanctioned live-action project - following Rex Smith in 1989 TV movie The Trial of the Incredible Hulk and Ben Affleck in 2003's Daredevil film.

Born in London and raised in East Sussex, Charlie Cox trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and, after making his television debut in the early '00s, got his big-screen break in 2004 - playing Lorenzo opposite Al Pacino's Shylock in Michael Radford's 2004 film version of The Merchant of Venice.

Further film and television roles followed - most notably 2005's cinematic Casanova starring Heath Ledger - before Cox landed his breakout role in 2007's Stardust.

Cast as protagonist Tristan Thorn, Cox led a cast that included Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro in the Neil Gaiman adaptation.

Charlie Cox in Stardust

When period smash Downton Abbey made its inauspicious debut in 2010, Cox featured in the first ever episode as the Duke of Crowborough and a year later landed another career-defining role - that of Owen Slater in Boardwalk Empire.

Cox played Owen - an Irish immigrant and criminal enforcer for Steve Buscemi's Nucky Thompson - in a total of 23 episodes across the HBO drama's second and third seasons.

Charlie Cox in Boardwalk Empire

After he was written out of the series, Cox shot a drama pilot for CBS - though The Ordained was ultimately not picked up to series - and the same year returned to his homeland to film BBC Two drama Legacy alongside Sherlock's Andrew Scott.

But the network's decision was a blessing in disguise, allowing the Brit to follow in the footsteps of his countrymen Andrew Garfield, Henry Cavill and Christian Bale in portraying one of America's great comic characters.

Charlie Cox's path to Daredevil - A career in pictures:

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Charlie Cox played Giovanni Bruni in 2005's Casanova, which starred the late Heath Ledger as the legendary lover.
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